Wilder Manager: Joshua Should be Ringside for Wilder-Fury

About a year and a half after Tyson Fury ended the historic 11-year heavyweight title run of Wladimir Klitschko, Anthony Joshua stopped Klitschko to become WBA/IBF/IBO champion — a bout which current WBC champion Tyson Fury was in the crowd for.

Joshua, however, will not be returning the favor to Wilder when Wilder defends his title against Fury on Dec. 1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Joshua will be at home in the U.K., and he claims he won’t even be watching the fight — just the highlights — due to the time difference.

Joshua and Wilder’s teams attempted to negotiate a deal for a September fight over the last several months, but when those failed, the two took separate title defenses.

Promoter Eddie Hearn offered a new deal to Wilder and his team for an April 13 fight at Wembley Stadium, with a potential rematch in the U.S. if Wilder is victorious. Shelly Finkel, a manager for Wilder, said Hearn will get his response “after Deontay knocks out Fury.”

“If Joshua really wanted this fight, why doesn’t he come to the fight?” said Finkel, who also advised Klitschko. “If [Joshua] wants this fight, then after [Wilder beats] Fury, they will put a legitimate offer on the table and we’ll accept it or we won’t. And if they don’t put down a reasonable offer, we’ll move on.”

Finkel additionally went on to argue why Wilder is a better heavyweight champion than Joshua, using their performances and opponents in recent fights. Following his win over Klitschko, Joshua made his first defense against a late-notice opponent in Carlos Takam, who gave Joshua some trouble. After claiming the WBO title in a lackluster fight with Joseph Parker in March, Joshua was given trouble yet again against Alexander Povetkin before finishing him in the seventh round.

Wilder, meanwhile, has stopped all eight of his last opponents — including his last two title defenses against Bername Stiverne and Luis Ortiz.

“Takam rocked Joshua as did Povetkin, who almost got dropped by David Price in his previous fight. With Parker, Joshua didn’t’ know what to do and it went the distance without Parker being dropped. The fight before [Takam,] Joshua fought Klitschko, who couldn’t beat Fury in his previous fight. “If Emanuel Steward [who trained Klitschko] were alive, Joshua would never have gotten up from that [sixth-round] knockdown and the fight would have ended in that round because Emanuel would have been screaming his head off at him. But if you take a look at the opponents Deontay is fighting compare to Joshua’s, I believe Deontay should be No. 1.

“People forget or overlook how dangerous Ortiz is. Eddie Hearn made a deal with [Ortiz] to keep him from fighting Joshua, yet Deontay fought Ortiz and beat him. Deontay will also fight and beat Fury. At that point, when you match up the resumes, who has Joshua fought that makes him No. 1 and not Deontay?”